‘Stranger Things 3’: Cary Elwes on ‘Smarmy’ Mayor Kline and His Connection to Starcourt Mall (Video)

“Princess Bride” alum tells TheWrap the Duffer Brothers assured him new character isn’t based on Trump

Even though “Stranger Things” viewers have yet to meet the mayor of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, it should come as no shock that the politician they’ll be introduced to when “Stranger Things 3” drops July 4 isn’t the best of people.

And in order to find out just how bad Mayor Larry Kline is, TheWrap sat down with Cary Elwes to ask him what’s the deal with his “swarmy” new character.

“It’s the first time we’re meeting the mayor of Hawkins and it turns out he’s a rather self-centered individual,” Elwes tells TheWrap, in an interview you can view above. “And he’s one of these politicians that seems to be very full of himself and not always honest, and a little bit demeaning of others, perhaps. Like I said, he’s a bit smarmy.”

Elwes claimed not to “know anything” when we asked if Kline is aware of all the strange(r) things that go on in Hawkins this season, though he did say the mayor’s real focus during the Summer of 1985 is this giant Fourth of July tribute he’s planning to the good ol’ U.S. of A.

And that plot point actually led the “Princess Bride” alum to believe “Stranger Things” creators Matt and Ross Duffer were pitching him a character based on Donald Trump. Turns out that wasn’t the case, even if you see a resemblance between the politicians.

“They go, ‘No, no, no, it’s not Trump, it’s just somebody that happens to be blonde and full of himself and likes the sound of his own voice,’” Elwes said. “Turns out [the Duffer Brothers] wrote that he takes over the Fourth of July celebrations — this is long before the president decided to do that — but this character, in this season, decides to take over the Fourth of July celebrations for himself because he thinks he can run it better than anybody else. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

(Back in February, President Trump announced a “Salute to America” July 4th celebration that will include a “major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!”)

Because the new Starcourt Mall has been featured so prominently in promos for “Stranger Things 3,” including a fake commercial that Netflix dropped last summer, we asked Elwes to tell us what the mayor’s involvement is with the town’s new shopping destination.

“Well, he definitely helped to sell it,” he said. “That’s his voice on the commercial you see for the mall. Again, a man who believes that the duties of the mayor extend to doing voice-over for commercials for malls.”

Watch the full interview above to get Elwes’ take on how “Stranger Things 3” is different from the Millie Bobby Brown-led show’s first and second seasons and the level of detail that went into making the Starcourt Mall.

“Stranger Things 3” launches July 4 on Netflix.

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